71 Mach1(Trans Am) 2" nose drop

[droptop73]

Those look nice! 

 

[71Rustang]

Well........here's a little more.I did some math and reverse engineering of how to relocate the lower arms on a 69/70 and scaled it up to fit the dimensions of a 71 and found that the proper amount to move out the control arm bolts is 5/16'' from the center of the camber slot.Which in reality is as far to the outside of the slot at the most negative camber adjustment on the car. So I made four 1/8'' thick x 2'' diameter washers just like the Boss Chassis book says to ,made all my measurements and welded them on.The rears where difficult as I had to stick the stinger through the crossmember access hole and look up through the bottom to see what I was doing and weld a lot by feel.Remember the 69/70 engine crossmembers unbolt so access is easy on 71-73 not so much. Now all the camber adjustment will be done by shimming the upper arm,this is how Kar Kraft did it.So I installed the longer 64-66  upper control arm studs.And thanks for the compliments ,it really does mean a lot to me when other people do like the things I build.

 

[droptop73]

For welding through the slots with the braille method the welds turned out great. 

Is this going to be a track only build or will it see some street duty as well? 

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I do wish we were neighbors. So much of this I will be doing soon not as much to the vert but since not much interest in a totally rust free Grande makes a great track car. I will be using the latest in the UHSS instead of 4140 or A-36 over twice the yield strength. I hope to get CAD on computer so I can at least scan templates and put up for others to use. 
Have you ever driven the Roval at Charlotte? I like all the elevation changes in tight area. Then you have the long back stretch to take a break. I just don't think I will be able to afford the tires, lol. I will have to go back to China to get tire funds built up.

Great work and I am all over your post.

Cheers,

 

[71Rustang]

Hello,and once again thanks for the compliments.To the first question,yes this is going to be a full blown period Trans Am race car as close as I can build it, if it would have rolled out of Kar Kraft.But if I want to take it to go get an ice cream cone,I'm going too.A little backstory,this was going to originally be my "nice restored" rollin on 15x7,with dog dishes Mustang.That was the plan until this spring after I finished all of the fabrication on my A100 which is a blown alcohol hemi powered wheelstander,just like the Little Red Wagon.I tried,I really did have all the intentions of installing all the rest of the sheet metal on the car to showroom stock.............but the reality is that just isn't me.I always have to turn things up to 11 and then just a little more. I mean who doesn't love Trans Am cars.So I started doing research into them and I found out two things. Ford intended to build two 71 cars,but as we all know what Ford did in 70,no more racing and axed KK.So I found out that the two cars where built and raced in the 70s,Warren Tope and Ed Hinchcliff.So there is the inspiration and proof of concept.The second thing I discovered was KK built 2 Boss 429 powered 69 Trans Am cars and they still exist. So 2+2 is 4. I own a  429 71 Mach1 and a Boss 429 is a bolt in.So I am building the craziest,most bonkers,end all be all Mustang to end all Mustangs for me.And here we are...............................

 

[tony-muscle]

Great work and a lot of work. Cant wait until you are done and report driving it. It would probably be a beast.

The part i didnt follow well was the tower bracing. Was that just reinforcing the walls of the tower or does it also include a cross bar from tower to tower?

Edit: after looking at the pictures again in the computer I see it better that on the phone. What you did was kind of box the opening below the UCA.

 

[droptop73]

That's gonna be way cool rumbling down the street for ice cream! It would be awesome to see at a Pro Touring event too! 

I love this build... great work. 

 

[71Rustang]

Great work and a lot of work. Cant wait until you are done and report driving it. It would probably be a beast.

The part i didnt follow well was the tower bracing. Was that just reinforcing the walls of the tower or does it also include a cross bar from tower to tower?

Edit: after looking at the pictures again in the computer I see it better that on the phone. What you did was kind of box the opening below the UCA.

Hi ,actually I am deciding what to do about adding a bar in between the towers on top.The Chassis Manual does show how and where to put one...........but on the 70 team cars,they don't have one.the 69 cars have the bar,in 70 they deleted it and went to what you would call an upper frame rail that was built and installed from the top of the cowl under the fender apron just to the front of the shock tower.So what I am doing is trying to think like a Kar Kraft engineer and figure out what and how they would have addressed that area. The 70 and 71 rules stated that no additional bars may be added forward of the fire wall,which is why I believe they went to the doubler and made it look like Ford made it that way.....................................even though I believe the 69 Shelby cars had a 1 1/2 tube that went from the top of the torque box to the shock tower.

 

[tony-muscle]

Hi ,actually I am deciding what to do about adding a bar in between the towers on top.The Chassis Manual does show how and where to put one...........but on the 70 team cars,they don't have one.the 69 cars have the bar,in 70 they deleted it and went to what you would call an upper frame rail that was built and installed from the top of the cowl under the fender apron just to the front of the shock tower.So what I am doing is trying to think like a Kar Kraft engineer and figure out what and how they would have addressed that area. The 70 and 71 rules stated that no additional bars may be added forward of the fire wall,which is why I believe they went to the doubler and made it look like Ford made it that way.....................................even though I believe the 69 Shelby cars had a 1 1/2 tube that went from the top of the torque box to the shock tower.

I would be interested in seeing what you are talking about the 70 going under the fender apron. My guess is that you won't get too much lateral stiffness that way, but definitely longitudinal stiffness. What about reinforcing the current tower braces. They have a near 45 degrees angle so if they were reinforced it should help adding stiffness without the MC cross bar.

 

[71Rustang]

Hi.Just more welding,welding,welding and yes more welding.The good news is the engine crossmember is rock solid.I also replaced the bottom of it do to the fact it was bent, smashed in and ugly.I  have never had one of these cars where it wasn't bent somehow.I used a piece of 1/8'' so now you actually can jack it it up there now.The rest is just pretty much weld every seam within reason.Before you could grab it with your hands and squeeze and watch it flex,now all of that is gone.The last thing to do is make extra bracing for the LCA mount. That will not be like on the 69/70 cars.I have come up with 3 different ways to do it.............I just have to pick the idea that uses the least amount of steel and the shortest bolt length,which is also the most ridged.

 

[71Rustang]

Hellk...........we all know 71/73 Mustangs do share the same Falcon D.N.A.with the earlier Mustangs,but they are different none the less.So this task of making and installing LCA braces is not as easy as in the earlier cars due to the fact the crossmember is part of the chassis and made of sheet metal,16 gauge with some 14g. I approached this as how a Kar Kraft engineer might have. First, this will not have the desired effect if you do not weld all of the seems in the crossmember solid including the control arm nut access holes and fully weld it to the shock towers like I posted in earlier posts.It was flimsy before ,but welding it tightened it up and took out the flex.I made (4) 1/4'' plates that I installed between the rear of the control arm mount and the rear wall of the engine crossmember,making a box with sides splayed out for strength and so I could fit the nozzle of the welder into such a tight space.Once again most of the welding was done blind and by feel just by watching the heat bloom of the weld and knowing when to stop and start the next weld.It wasn't fun and all overhead.Its the simplest and strongest that I could do in such a small,confined space. I would say KK  approved. The suspension is mocked up mostly,still waiting for monoball kits for the strut rods. Your looking at a 9.5" tall 1200lb coil and my own racey go fast control arms.I am shooting for about 2 inches between the ground and the engine crossmember.

 

[tony-muscle]

Good idea on how to reinforce the LCA attachment point. I always thought it looked weak.

 

[71Rustang]

I would be interested in seeing what you are talking about the 70 going under the fender apron. My guess is that you won't get too much lateral stiffness that way, but definitely longitudinal stiffness. What about reinforcing the current tower braces. They have a near 45 degrees angle so if they were reinforced it should help adding stiffness without the MC cross bar.

Hello again, here are a few pics of the "extra frame rails" KarKraft added

 

[tony-muscle]

Hello again, here are a few pics of the "extra frame rails" KarKraft added

View attachment 44894

View attachment 44893

Cool. Thank you.

 

[tony-muscle]

I didn't see anything about the firewall. Did you do anything to stiffen it like continuous welding? A stiffer firewall should help in stiffening the chassis. 

 

[71Rustang]

I didn't see anything about the firewall. Did you do anything to stiffen it like continuous welding? A stiffer firewall should help in stiffening the chassis. 

The entire car..........I was just doing the fire wall today. So I skip welded the upper cowl to the lower cowl then the cowl to the firewall. Fire wall to rear fender aprons ,fire wall to torque boxes.......ect.....y'all get the idea. The whole car. You don't really notice it on Trans Am cars because of the speckled paint Bud Moore used, unless you look at a 69 Shelby as I recall they used white and I think gray. I also ordered the monoballs for the strut rods today. They should be a joy to get the front half welded in through the front of the crossmember............

 

[Boss1Ray]

A few of my related archived pics. I have more but would need to look harder to locate.    That #25 car is the Tope car when owned and raced by Bill Maier, owner of a very well-known 'repopper' Shelby fiberglass body parts business.  When I visited with him back in the late 70's/early 80's,  he mentioned he had some extra fiberglass fenders/flare kits for that car and could make some more if needed.  At t hat time - he was transitioning his racing the the NEW Fox body Mustang for his racing. Anyway, I think his son runs the business now.  Bill passed away quite a few years ago. Nice guy.

Ray

 

[71Rustang]

Hello everyone,more progress and by that I mean welding,welding,welding,welding,welding.....................................more welding have a coffee followed by welding,and more welding with periods of grinding and finishing.Been kind of a rough week with EVH passing.I tear up just thinking about it...................So I just keep working on the car. As before I am skip welding 2 inches ,skip 2 and weld 2 inches.working my way to the rear of the car.Welding the rocker pinch welds sucked royally,because of the galvanizing and I am doing all of this on the floor overhead. So after I did those and the torque boxes ,I finish ground and sanded them straight and smooth.All of the other welds will be left as is. When it comes time to paint the car I will be adding EVH stripes somewhere into the paint scheme .It will be tasteful and thoughtful ,just a small reminder.

 

[droptop73]

Nice work, the hours and hours... WOW! 

 

[dexleo2]

love it..... can't wait to see it completed!!!!!!!! Will be following this one for sure!!!